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After two decades working in B.C.’s non-profit sector, the Vancouver native was made president and CEO of VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation on Wednesday. The organization raised $61 million in donations in the past year. The Sun’s Zoe McKnight talks to Grantham about the challenges in the field and her hopes and goals

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Q. You’ve been involved in the non-profit sector for your whole career. Our archives first mention your name in 1991.

A. I was born and raised here. I moved away for about 10 years, but really my professional working career has been in the philanthropic sector here in B.C. with some national work as well. I started my career with the United Way of the Lower Mainland and had time in other terrific organizations like the Canadian Mental Health Association, Children’s Hospital Foundation, Canadian Mental Health Association, Vancouver Foundation and the Streetohome Foundation. And when I was raising my family there were years I was an independent consultant working with those kinds of organizations.

Q. What changes have you seen in the sector over time?

A. Lots has changed. When I look back, in the late 80s in the early days of my career, we didn’t use technology to process giving or communicate with donors and the public at all. We didn’t have a website or email. ... One of the transformations I’ve seen is the arrival of technology and the revolution that’s brought about. Increasingly now, donors want to give their gifts online. They don’t want to receive anything in the mail. They want to direct their money in a very intentional way. In the early days, more people gave money without designating or specifying where they wanted it to go.

Q. When it comes to big donations — such as the $2 million the Rennie family donated to the new Joseph & Rosalie Segal Family Health Centre — versus small individual ones, how has the ratio changed?

A. It’s changed, but not as much as people think. In the business, we loosely use the 80-20 rule. Eighty per cent of our gifts come from 20 per cent of our donors. It’s a pyramid. A significant percentage of the overall revenue raised by any philanthropic organization in any given year comes from a small number of people. If we used the 80-20 rule 20 years ago, it’s now 90-10. More people of high net worth are giving more. It’s not that other people are giving less.

Q. What about the last five years after the global economic meltdown? What has been the impact?

A. The sector was impacted significantly, some organizations more than others. Foundations were harder hit than those that didn’t have a lot of money invested in the market. So any foundation with money endowed or sitting in investment accounts took a hit. Universities have a lot of money in endowments. Community foundations is another example. Ours to a lesser degree. It was a two-fold impact: one was the hit to markets and investments that many charities hold for the long term. And the second was the pullback in donor behaviour as a result of the economic downturn. I think it was a little more pronounced in the States than here, as were the economic conditions more generally.

Q. Have things returned to pre-recession levels?

A. We certainly did notice a dip nationally and here in B.C. But yes, for the most part.

Q. What are the priorities of the hospital foundation?

A. No. 1 absolutely is finishing the campaign for the mental health building. It’s a really important part of our infrastructure of care in this province. We’re very excited. It’s moving forward very well, both the campaign and the planning for the new building. Our next priority is all the ongoing equipment and tools that our physicians and health care professionals need to do the leading-edge work they do. That’s everything from new CT scanners and new radiology equipment to new cardiac equipment, new neurological tools and equipment to go into patient care areas. The third is continuing funding for research.

Q. Is there a hospital department that is a particular focus for fundraising or has a particular need?

A. In the last few years, the priorities have really been around prostate and ovarian and pancreatic cancer. But we’ve also raised significant amounts of money for (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) and neurodegenerative diseases. We’ve raised money for eye care research and lots of money for cardiac health and heart and stroke research. Virtually all of the specialized health care services are here at VGH or UBC hospital or GF Strong (rehabilitation centre) ... the priorities are really set by Vancouver Coastal Health, in the overall picture.

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Interview: Barbara Grantham, new head of the VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation

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